49 traffic suspensions drive suspect to jail

Updated 10:36 pm, Tuesday, August 2, 2011

WATERFORD -- Officer Jeremy Connors pulled over a man driving without a seat belt on Monday.

It was a routine stop that thousands of officers make each day, but when Connors asked the man for his license, he learned the driver had 40 suspensions.

Connors checked James Desonyers' record, and he found 49 suspensions dating to 1989.

Public Safety Commissioner John Tanchak said the suspensions were for traffic violations, drunken driving, consecutive speeding violations and failing to answer tickets.

"He decided he wasn't going to answer anything," Tanchak said.

Desonyers, 40, of Third Avenue in Troy, was charged with felony first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation. He was arraigned in Waterford Town Court and sent to the Saratoga County Jail on $2,500 bail.

"It's a new one for us. We've seen close to 20 or even in the 20s but never close to 50," Tanchak said. "I'm sure he'll end up with another one now."